Heretofore, connectors have been suggested for readily making the electrical connections between terminal ends of wires. Initially, connectors were suggested such as spade-type connectors. Their advantage was that they were easy to assemble and thereby allowed wiring of various components of an apparatus at a location remote from the manufacturing site.
Later, it was concluded that if the various terminal ends of electrical wires of an apparatus were affixed in a mold and had a connection block molded therearound, positive locked connection could be effected and would be superior to spade-type connectors.
Applicant has now devised a locking device which can be readily adapted to apparatus already having spadetype connectors which may, for example, be in service and therefore not readily subject to having the wire terminal ends molded into a locking device. In the alternative, Applicant's locking device may be used with new components, supplied by a vendor, with wiring whose terminal ends have spade-type connectors. In either event, the locking device of this invention may be later added to wire terminal ends having spade-type connection elements thereon to effect positive locked connection therebetween.
The spade-type connectors to which this invention relates are well known in the art and are shown as elements 10 and 12 in FIG. 1.
The present invention is a new and novel locking device which obviates the need to mold wire terminal ends thereinto, yet maintains the connectors in readily-aligned position and secures them in positive locked relationship when assembled.